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[OM] Olympus Lenses--Subjective opinions.

Subject: [OM] Olympus Lenses--Subjective opinions.
From: ALEXSCIFI@xxxxxxx
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 1999 22:22:37 EST
Cc: ALEXSCIFI@xxxxxxx, alal@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Hi Folks, 

    My name is Alex and I'm a somewhat new member--just a few weeks. I joined
the list to get some discussion on Olympus lenses and am pleased to say most
of my questions were answered very definitively. Therefore I would like to say
a few words about the Olympus lenses I own and have owned compared to my other
system--Canon SSC/FD.  In order of increasing focal length:

 1) 21F3.5 OM--excellent!!! The existence of this lens is a major reason to
choose the Olympus as a system in the first place. Took a roll of the Crystal
Cathedral in Garden Grove, Ca--nothing but lines everywhere and not a trace of
distortion! Contrast and resolution are also so good, I'm looking forward to a
shootout with the Contax G 21mm! By the way, I took this lens along on a
recent cruise and found to my surprise that it came in very handy!

2) 24F2.8  OM MC--I remember this as being an excellent lens, but have not
used it in some years as it is sandwiched between the 21 and 28s, which I use
much more! I will take it out again and try it soon, since it matches the
perspective of a medium format lens I plan to eventually get.

3) 28F3.5 OM MC-excellent!!! I bought one of these cheap along with an OM body
and it's exceptional clarity (superior to my Canon 28F2.8, 2.0 and Canon
28F3.5) convinced me to try Olympus again after having tried it unsuccessfully
some years earlier!

4) 35F2.8 OM--very good at least. This is an MC version. An earlier SC (silver
ring front thread) was less sharp. I recall this lens being as sharp as a
Canon 35F2.0SSC or 35F3.5SC lens--but I haven't used it recently. Strangely, I
got an Olympus Stylus Epic that seems sharper still!!!

5) 50F1.4 OM MC--very good at least. Much better than my first(when OM first
came out), and better than another 1.4 OM I tried. I would rate it as good as
a Canon 50F1.4SSC! However, it is not as sharp as a Canon   screw mount
rangefinder 50F1.4 lens(single coated)--which has been sharper than any SLR 50
I've had to date!

6) 50F3.5 OM macro--excellent! A hair sharper than the above 1.4 lens. If you
don't need the speed, a very convient lens to use since the lens hood is built
in so to speak!

7) 2 50F1.8 MC OM lenses.  Read some talk somewhere about the OM 1.8 being of
similar flavor to the 50 Summicron, so I when I found myself in a camera shop
with 2 50 OM MC lenses I decided to "eyeball" the both of them with one of his
Olympus cameras. Well, it  took only a few minutes of back and forth switching
to sense that one was a little brighter/sharper than the other wide open--so
of course I bought the winner! A short time later, I dropped it and dented the
front filter thread, so I bought still another(no--not the loser). Even so,
the initial Kodachromes from the dented 1.8 are at least very good--perhaps
excellent! I'm happy to say that  I cannot ("eyeball") tell them apart while
on the camera--so I think this last one is as good as the first! I will have
to shoot them somemore to comment further and to compare them to an
"excellent" Pentax 50F1.7.

8) 85F2.0 F.ZUIKO (serial# 105030)--excellent!!! Single coated or not, this is
an excellent lens. I think this is the original 6-element version, which was
changed to 5 in subsequent versions, including MCs(can anyone comment as to
the subjective differences between the differing versions of OM 85s).
Comparable to my Canon 85f1.8SSC.

9) 100f2.0 OM--excellent!!! Overall, this is my single favorite Olympus lens.
I prefer this lens to the 85 despite "twice" the size, because of the
following:

        *        I feel intuitively that the additional mass helps considerably 
to reduce
                 vibration in hand held shots. 
        *       It is one of only 2 fast (f2.0 or less) medium teles to focus 
to 2 feet for
                a tight "eyes only" shot. The 2-foot close distance (as opposed 
to the
                usual 3 or 3.5 ft) almost makes it a macro! The other, is its 
sister lens--
                the 90F2.0 OM macro! The reason I bought it rather than the 90, 
were 
                the Pop Photo tests on both that seemed to suggest better 
wide-open
                performance for the 100.
        *       All of the shots I have taken with this lens are superb--they 
seem to 
                have a more subtle quality than either the OM 85 or Canon 85.
        *       It is my most heavily used lens.

10) 135F3.5 MC--very good!  Much better than the initial SC version I owned,
in a similar league with the Canon 135F3.5SC lens.

11) 180F2.8 MC--very good! Maybe a hair less sharp than my Canon 200F4.0 FD,
but the speed and compact construction makes it a superb "street" lens.

12) 200F5.0 (SC?--serial # 101812)--very good, but way too slow! Don't use
because of the above 180.

13) 300F4.5 MC--very good, but rarely use this focal length in either OM or
Canon configurations.


That's it for now.

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